The Soldier's Mission
by RaydorCakes
Summary: Tag to episode 3x19 "Crossroads pt 1." Laura's cancer has returned, and what does that mean for her and Bill?


A/N: This is my first ever Rodama fanfiction, so feel free to point out any errors. I don't own the characters or the amazing show, as much as I wish I did.

* * *

He was always so calm, cool and collected. It was just his way, something a life in the military had engrained in him. Feel, just don't let it show.

 _"I am taking Camalla because my cancer has returned_." She announced in front of _everyone_ , and in that moment he felt his heart stop beating and something in his chest drop to the pit of his stomach. She was dying. _Again_.

There were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he felt he _needed_ to say, but he didn't know how. Something else the military had conditioned him to do: _keep his mouth shut_

How long did she have? How long did _he_ have before he would never see her again? Before all he had left was the small, emaciated woman from months past? Before she would forget who she was, who he was, and why she was fighting in the first place? Before he would add her name to the list of all the people that he'd loved and lost?

It all came down to one thing: _Time_. And for all he knew, she could be out of just that before the trial's end.

There were so many things he needed to do. He was needed in CIC, needed at the trial, and his _heart_ , well that told him he was needed with her. His mission was to find her, and he was a soldier that _always_ completed his missions.

* * *

Opening the hatch to his quarters, he let out a deep sigh. Finally, a moment of silence away from Lee, the press, and Gaius frakking Baltar.

"Hello, Bill." He hears her quietly say as he closes the hatch.

"Madame President?" He quirks an eyebrow and walks towards her, sitting at his desk with her face in her hands, her glasses discarded to the side, "I didn't expect to find you here."

"Oh come on Bill," she remarks sarcastically, "we both know no one will _dare_ enter your quarters. I just needed somewhere to sit, think, and organize my thoughts without being interrupted."

"Funny," he chuckles, sitting across from her, "that's exactly why I'm here."

"You also live here." She grins, picking up her glasses and placing them back on her face.

"You're right." He smiles, taking a deep breath, "Laura, can I ask you a question?"

"I don't know, _can_ you?" She asks as she runs a hand through her auburn hair.

"May I?" He asks, but not before grumbling " _frakking teacher_." under his breath.

"Just ask me Bill. Everyone's _dying_ to know." She laughs at her own ill-timed pun.

"Laura, how long do you have?"He extends his arms on the desk and looks at her sympathetically.

"Please, don't look at me like that." She begs, "Not you, _anyone_ but you. The whole frakking universe is collapsing again and all I can do is watch!" She exclaims, sighing and smashing her face a little too hard on the desk, "Gods dammit Bill! I thought things were starting to get better! Zarek stepped down, Baltar's gone to trial, the Cylons finally backed the frak off, but we lost Starbuck, and the cancer came back and-"

"Laura, look at me." He asks quietly.

"No." She shakes her head.

She was breaking in front of him and she was _ashamed_ of it. She was the president of the Colonies for frak's sake, and she was on the verge of tears in the Admiral's quarters.

"Laura, please." She shakes her head again and he forcibly reaches for his bowl of walnuts, cracking one effortlessly, " _Look at me!_ " He exclaims, but she can tell it's out of concern, not anger, "Dammit Laura."

She slowly lifts her eyes to meet his, "What do you want me to say? I'm the dying leader, I've _always_ been the dying leader. All this has happened before and all of this will happen again... It's just _sick_. I get to be the dying leader not once, but twice."

He stares intently at her and she can see the emotion welling up in his sky blue eyes, those eyes that once held nothing but contempt for her now held sadness, pain, and maybe even _fear_.

"What about Hera?" He curls his index finger over his top lip, "It worked once, why won't it work again?"

"Oh for frak's sake," she laughs sadly, "why in the hell would they do that? I convinced them their child was dead! And if it wasn't for that other version of Sharon, it would've stayed that way. I ruined their lives, why would they help me?!"

"Contrary to what you think, not everyone hates you." He answers quietly as he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.

"Not _everyone_." She replies emphatically, "But the ones that are important do. Helo and Boomer, Lee, the Colonel, they don't like me too much at the moment."

Bill cringes at his son's name, "I don't think Lee likes me too much at the moment either."

"The point is, Bill, that there's no escaping this time. This is my fate, ' _the dying leader will bring the human race to salvation.'_ It's what I'm meant to do."

"Please, stop talking like this. There's always a chance you'll beat this. You still didn't answer my question."

"I can't beat it." She looks down at her hands, "I already cheated fate once, I can't do it again. I was meant to die. All this time, all of this bullshit, just so I could _die_."

Bill stands up and walks around the desk, stopping behind where she sits in his chair and delicately placing his hands on her shoulders. Laura lets out a sigh and tilts her head back as he gently kneads her shoulders.

"Thank you, Bill." She closes her eyes and smiles, "I really needed this."

"Don't mention it, Madame President." He grins, watching as the tension leaves her body, "Taking care of you is my main mission."


End file.
